992018 Croingen- Wipe, the free encyclopedia Although Groningen is not a very large city, it does have an important role as the main urban centre of this part of the country, particularly in the fields of music and other arts, education, and business, The large number of students living in Groningen also contributes to a diverse cultural scene for a city ofits size Museums ‘The most important and most famous museum in Groningen is the Groninger Museum. With the construction of ts current building, designed by Alessandro Mendini, the museum has been transformed into one of the most modem and innovative of its kind in the Netherlands. In addition, the city has a maritime museum, a university museum, a comics museum and a graphics museum. Groningen is ako home of Noorderlicht, an international photographic platform that runs a photo gallery and organizes an international photo festival. Theatre and music Groningen has a city theatre (Stadsschouwburg), located on the Turfsinge}; a big theatre and concert venue called Martini Plaza; and another major cultural venue on the Trompsingel, called the Oosterpoort. Vera is located on the Oosterstraat, the Grand Theatre on the Grote Markt, and Simplon on the Boterdiep. Several cafés feature live music, a few of which specialize in jazz music, including Jazzcafe De Spieghel on the Peperstraat. The jazz music students from the Prince Claus Conservatoire have been known to hold regular jam sessions in cafes such as Peter Pan on the Voor Het Voormalige Klein Poortje and café De Smederij on the Tuinstraat 2-4 Groningen is also the host city for Eurosonic Noorderslag, an annual music showease event for over a hundred bands from all over Europe. Nightlife Groningen's nightlife depends largely on its student population. Its cultural scene is vibrant and remarkable for a city its size. In particular, the Grote ‘Markt, the Vismarkt, the Poelestraat and Peperstraat are crowded every night of the week, and most bars do not close until 5 in the moming. Between 2005 and 2007, Groningen was elected "best city centre" of the Netherlands.!7] Groningen has a red-light district, called Niewwstad. A second one in the A-kwartier (an area) has been closed as of late 2015. Both areas are in or near the city centre. Other ‘The Martini Tower 1n2014 a 3D Dome theatre, known as Infoversum, opened in Groningen. This is housed in an unusual dome shaped building made out of steel, It shows special dome films and also presents performing arts events, The Infoversum went bankrupt in 2015, International relations Groningen is twinned with the following cities!*] epssin kpc. org iiGroningen ane